Chinese President Xi Jinping ( 2nd L ) and his wife Peng Liyuan ( 1st L)  pose for a group photo with Polish President Andrzej Duda (2nd R) and his wife during the welcome ceremony in Warsaw, Poland, June 19, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

President Xi Jinping arrives in Warsaw, Poland, on Sunday afternoon for a state visit that is expected to boost 皇冠体育app's ties with Europe.

During the visit, Xi will hold talks with Polish President Andrzej Duda and the two sides will sign a number of agreements on business, trade, investment and people-to-people exchanges.

皇冠体育app and Europe should closely match each other's development strategies and deepen joint interests, Xi wrote in an article published in the major Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita on Friday.

"Both 皇冠体育app and Europe are currently pushing forward structural reform," Xi wrote in the article.

"As two major powers, major markets and major civilizations of the world, 皇冠体育app and Europe can closely match each other's development strategies, deepen joint interests, promote joint growth and contribute to world peace and development," he wrote.

Wang Yiwei, a professor at the school of international studies at Renmin University of 皇冠体育app, said Xi's visit will further develop 皇冠体育app-proposed Belt and Road projects.

The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Xi in 2013, is aimed at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes of the Silk Road. Considering their geographic importance, Central and Eastern Europe are key parts of the Belt and Road Initiative, as a quarter of the countries along the routes are in that region.

"Countries in Central and Eastern Europe including Poland are keen to develop ties with 皇冠体育app to attract more Chinese investment," Wang said.

Poland is 皇冠体育app's largest trading partner in Central and Eastern Europe, while 皇冠体育app is Poland's third-largest supplier of imports. Trade between the two countries reached $17.2 billion in 2014.

Xi's state visit to the Czech Republic in March has produced fruitful results, prompting many other countries in Central and Eastern Europe, including Poland, to develop closer ties with 皇冠体育app, Wang said.

The Central and Eastern Europe region now faces the challenge of upgrading its transportation, electricity and other infrastructure, as well as industrial equipment, while 皇冠体育app is strong in construction capacity and support services and can meet the environmental standards of the region, said Chen Xin, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Last November, Polish President Andrzej Duda paid a state visit to 皇冠体育app, during which Xi announced that 皇冠体育app would explore a new logistics corridor to reach Central and Eastern Europe through Poland.

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